Superview Lodge
Women in red checked scarves playing drums in our garden at night, a fire burning behind them
Evenings in our garden · Panche Baja

Local Band – Women's Group

Panche Baja, Nepal's traditional band, played by Pariyar Didi-Bahini Samuha, a women's group from Sarangkot. Two hours of live music in our garden after dinner, around the fire.

Duration
2 hours
Time
8 to 10 PM, after dinner
Where
Our garden, outdoors
Price
USD 150per evening, not per person
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Panche Baja is the band that has played at Nepali weddings and festivals for generations. In our village it's kept alive by Pariyar Didi-Bahini Samuha, a group of Pariyar women, and they come to our garden to play it for you after dinner.

This may be the last generation that knows how to play the baja, in our community and in many others in Nepal. Booking an evening pays the women to keep playing, and the group puts the money it earns into social work in the village. If the night is chilly, we light a fire in the garden.

Hear it first

“It was soul-recharging.”

That's what one of our guests said the morning after the band played for the end of Tihar. Turn the sound up and see for yourself.

How the day goes

After dinner, in the garden

  1. After dinner

    The fire is lit

    If the evening is chilly. Find a seat around it.

  2. 8 PM

    The band begins

    Drums, cymbals and the high, bright sanai.

  3. Through the evening

    Listen, clap, dance

    Nobody minds if you can't dance. Guests often join in.

  4. 10 PM

    The last song

    Then tea for the band, and bed for you.

Women of the band playing the sanai and drums by the café
What it is

Panche means five

Panche Baja is a band of five instruments. It plays at weddings, festivals and other happy occasions all over Nepal, because its sound is thought to bring good luck.

Sanai, the reed pipe. A wooden pipe with a double reed and a flared brass bell. It carries the tune, high and bright, and it's the sound you'll remember.

Damaha, the big drum. A large kettle drum of metal covered with hide, struck with a stick. Its deep, slow beat is the heart of the band.

Tyamko, the small drum. A small kettle drum hung at the waist and played with two thin sticks. It answers the damaha with quick, crisp rolls.

Dholaki, the two-sided drum. A barrel drum with a skin at each end, played with the hands. It keeps the steady rhythm everyone dances to.

Jhyali, the cymbals. A pair of brass cymbals that clash on the beat and hold the whole band together.

Some bands add a narsinga, a long curved copper horn, blown at the big moments.

Women of the band seated in a circle with their instruments, guests standing around
Who they are

The Pariyar community

The Pariyar are among the original families of Sarangkot. For generations they have been Nepal's tailors, musicians and artisans: the people who sewed the clothes, played the band at every wedding and festival, and made much of what a village needed.

Even so, under the old caste system they were pushed to the margins of the very community they helped build. Life is better now, and Pariyar families are part of everyday social life in Sarangkot. But their skills are close to disappearing, because the younger generations have not taken up the work.

Didi-Bahini means sisters. These are Pariyar women, keeping their music alive.

Women in red checked scarves seated with their instruments in the garden
Why it's special

A women's band

For generations the baja was played by men. In our village it's a group of women who keep it going, and that makes an evening with them rare, even in Nepal.

Band members playing cymbals and drums close up
Where the money goes

Keeping the band alive

Fewer young people learn the baja every year. Paid evenings give the women a reason to keep playing, and the group uses what it earns for social work in the village. Booking an evening is one of the best ways to help a tradition last.

Photos9 photos · tap to enlarge
The details

What's included

Included

  • The women's band, playing from 8 to 10 PM
  • A fire in the garden if the evening is chilly
  • Tea and refreshments for the band

Good to know

Booking
Please book a day ahead if you can, or at least a couple of hours before
Weather
It's outdoors in our garden, so it needs a dry evening. If it rains, we refund you
Other guests
Other guests staying with us usually come out to watch too
Price
USD 150 for the evening, not per person
What it pays for
The band, the fire, and tea and refreshments for the band members

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